The Musician And The Warlock
by iwantachocolatecookie
Summary: Modern day!Au Merthur Arthur works at a music store and Merlin has just moved they meet when Merlin is lost and Arthur offers to lead the way not knowing of this stranger's secret. Love begins to grow but doesn't it turn too hard to hide who you really are from the people you most love? Merlin is going to learn that the hard way. It won't have smut unless someone offers to write it
1. The Music Store

Arthur kept adjusting his guitar as it kept sliding down his shoulder, because of the absurd amount of clothes he was wearing.

It was a particularly cold day in the little town of Camelot. All the trees were naked of leaves and there wasn't a soul outside. Only a few shoppers preparing for the day.

Arthur was the president's son but he wasn't a very political person he would like to make Camelot a more liberal place but music was more interesting to him.

He pedalled down the street heading to his tiny music store. He had opened it the year before, it was the only music store in Camelot because most people there only really cared about typical small town hobbies like sewing, agriculture and watching people pass by. No one really did anything that the younger generations liked. That's why Arthur decided to open the music store. He didn't have a lot of costumers but he had regulars and a few kids he taught how to play guitar or piano.

Arthur tightened his grip on the brakes and his bike's wheels squeaked against the ground stopping just before he hit the wall. He opened his bag and looked for the chain. He locked his bike to a post and rested it against the wall reaching down to his pocket looking for the key to open the door.

The inside was dark because the windows were all still closed but as soon as he slammed on the light switch the store became alive all the neon lights he had collected the years he went to university started blinking and the tiny gadget on top of his door sang "customeeer!" He sighed with content opening the store always made him feel happy and excited for the day. He opened the blinds and just stood there watching the little boys and girls playing knights with sticks before going to school. He smiled he remembered being the one playing like that with Leon, Elyan and the other guys.

He took off two of his coats as the heating started working and sat on the old armchair in the corner of the room legs over the armrest and looking upside down at the door grabbing his guitar. He strummed happily waiting for the customers to come get new guitar picks or strings. He loved working in his little store it was so peaceful unless Gwaine decided to visit and play "hard metal". He was actually just slamming the drum sticks on the drums, screaming on top of his lungs and head banging. His friend was a bit too much sometimes but he loved him anyway but at this time of the morning when Gwaine was still probably sprawled on his bed snoring like a pig he could just enjoy the soft happy music he could played.

"Customeeer!" His door sang again making Arthur shift his focus from his guitar to the door. In front of him a dark haired skinny boy stood on the door with his head leaning to the side with a confused look on his face as he alterned from looking at him and to the top of his door

"Hi" the boy finally said breathless, now that Arthur was standing the right way up he could see his costumer looked like he had been running or at least had walked a long way. His hair was all messy and his boot brown with mud. He carried a huge backpack with a sleeping mat on top.

"Good morning" Arthur greeted setting down his guitar on the armchair "Can I help you?" He questioned looking at the stranger

"Hum, maybe, do you happen to know a man named Gaius?" He asked stretching his back a bit, probably sore from the weight of his huge bag.

"The doctor? Yeah, he's the only doctor in town. I'm guessing you're the apprentice he has been talking about for a few days now" Arthur wondered moving to help the boy with his bag.

"Yeah, you could say that. Can you tell me where he lives?" The dark haired boy asked as he shrugged happily thankful for getting rid of the weight of his belongings for a while "thank you"

"You're welcome and yeah I'll take you there if you want" Arthur smiled politely, he tried to be nice with people he wasn't close with him since Gwaine kicked him in his manly parts for being an "egocentric arrogant dick" when they met. Let's just say they weren't the best of friends in the beginning.

"No it's okay you're working, just tell me where he lives and I'll find my way" The boy insisted

Arthur looked around playfully.

"I don't see any costumers, do you?" One of the sides of his full lips turned up making a light blush appear on the other boy's cheeks as he smiled back shyly.

"Not now, but someone might appear" he said a bit more quiet than before making Arthur smile.

"Probably not, most of my clients are students so they only appear at the end of the day or during lunch break, mornings are usually quiet." Arthur explained hoping to spend a little more time with this stranger with eyes that looked like ice.

"Okay, fine" the boy sighed playfully defeated. "Can you at least tell me your name though?" He smiled his eyes shining a bit brighter.

"I'm Arthur, Arthur Pendragon." He grinned with the excitement.

"Merlin "Emrys"" The boy, Merlin, said

"Emrys?" Arthur asked confused.

"It's not really my name my last name is Balinor but I don't really use it and a lot of people know me as Emrys." Merlin explained.

"Ah okay, Merlin _Emrys _Balinor" Arthur chuckled making Merlin blush again.


	2. Gaius, The Doctor

Hope you guys are enjoying this fic, It's a bit of a therapeutic thing because i need to learn to stop giving up on things so if I stop writing for more than a month without a proper excuse you're free to "shout" at me.

And if you want a map of how I imagine Camelot you're free to ask for that too.

Arthur put on his coats, mentally preparing himself for the cold he was about to face once again.

He held out Merlin's backpack to the other boy heping him put it on his back. He might be trying to be nice but he wasn't going to carry someone else's stuff.

"Ready?" He asked, Merlin groaned as the weight of the bag fell on his shoulders.

"Almost, just give me a second" The boy reached into his pocket and put on a pair of thick wool gloves as Arthur laughed at how the boy almost disappeared inside his clothes, you could see he wasn't used to this much cold "Okay we can go" Merlin sighed with content from the warmth.

They stepped into the freezing breeze, both of their noses turning red, Arthur locked the store's door behind them, not that it was necessary since there weren't many criminals because everyone knew each other, but still, better safe than sorry.

"So, what brings you to Camelot?" Arthur wondered aloud, looking at Merlin from the corner of his eyes.

"I didn't fit in in my town anymore, I only had one friend, he was my best friend since we were kids, but we both understood that the safest thing to do was for me to leave Ealdor, that's where I used to live. Merlin explained looking straight foward and shifting a bit under is huge bag.

"Ah okay" Arthur nodded, he understood it was a sensitive topic for now, he'd try again if they ever became closer. "But still, why Camelot?" he insisted, he didn't understand why someone would choose Camelot for a place to fit in, everyone was so close-minded.

"My mom knows Gaius, she used to live here before she moved to Ealdor when she met my dad. As she didn't want me to live alone she decided to send me here to live with Gaius" Merlin looked over to Arthur who was looking back at him, listening to his every word.

"Makes sense" Arthur hummed in agreement.

They turned left on a narrow street where two women were talking from one side to another on the windows above them.

Arthur loudly knocked on the wooden door at the end of the street. They heard a loud groan and someone getting closer to the door.

"Hello?" Gaius asked looking from Arthur to the unknown boy with confusion.

"Hi, I'm Merlin" the boy explained cheerfully.

"But you weren't supposed to come until Wednesday" Gaius said nervously.

"Hum, it is Wednesday..." Merlin looked at Arthur looking for an explanation, maybe the man didn't have all the cards.

"Oh...yeah... come in then" Gaius smiled stepping aside so both boys could enter his house "Arthur, can you please take Gwaine home?" Gaius ordered sounding annoyed "he got drunk last night and now he's hungover, I gave him aspirin and lots of water, I can't do anything else"

"Yeah, of course, come on you idiot!" Arthur shouted in his friend's ear making the boy curl up, butt sticking up in the air. He helped the boy up, slapping his ass in the process, Arthur threw Gwaine's arm around his shoulders, helping him rise from the couch and guiding him to the door. "Thanks, Gaius, and see you around, Merlin." He winked, smiling at the boy and closing the door behind them.

"So, boy, your room is up those stairs" Gaius told the flustered boy, pointing at the small old door. "You can leave your things there, settle in, I'll let you be for now. I need to sleep, I couldn't even blink with that unresponsible idiot in my house" Gaius huffed annoyed.

"Okay, thank you, sir" Merlin smiled politely and started dragging his feet up the stairs, dying to lay a bit and maybe take a nap.

Merlin looked around the small room, smiling, finally he got to have his new start.

He finally got to get rid of the weight on his back, sighing tiredly, he fell back on the bed staring at the ceiling, he had been dreaming of the moment he could get out of Ealdor. It had become hard living there, too many people knew about his magic, they either hated him or kept asking him for favours. He didn't feel neither comfortable, nor accepted anymore. He just wanted everyone to be like Will know about it but not make a fuss about it everytime they saw him using it, but he knew that would never happen. So he took the best way out not the easiest since he'd no longer see his best friend everyday but definitely the safest.

Besides from what he had seen already, the guys sure were cute in Camelot and who was he to complain, he chuckled quietly, and thinking of blond hair and sky blue eyes, he fell asleep.

Sorry if it's too short I want to post as frequently as possible instead of a lot at once so it's easier for me to get used to posting them. Anyway, thanks for reading :)


	3. Camelot

Merlin woke up 5 hours later his stomach rumbling, he hadn't eaten since the apple he had for dinner the night before. He got up stretching his back raising his arms in the air. He went down the small flight of stairs, and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

He got out of the bathroom, already dressed, hoping that Gaius was awake, he didn't want to bother the older man. Unfortunately, for him, Gaius had other plans, and was laying on his small bed, arms all over and mouth slightly open, fast asleep. Merlin sighed in frustration. He looked around helplessly spotting a little notebook stuck to the fridge, and a pencil next to it. He quickly wrote "Going out for food didn't want to wake you up", and then carefully put the small page inside Gaius' hand.

He left the small house, tripping on his way out, as usual.

He tried to remember where they had come from looking around the narrow streets, since he had arrived in Camelot he had noticed how much people here were proud of their town most houses were red with bits of gold either on the windows or around the doors.

It was almost 1pm, he was hoping that Arthur would be near his lunch break so they could go eat together. It didn't take him long to find the small park in front of Arthur's small store he opened the park's little gate he could already hear the screams of the children playing in the playground in the center of the park and as he reached them, he watched as the mothers sat on the benches sewing and gossiping while keeping an eye on their loud children. He heard the loud sound of drums as soon as he closed the gate on the other side. He followed it, a place as small as Camelot couldn't have more than one music store.

He recognised the door as soon as he saw it and as he went to open it he heard a scream, but as he tried to move away he tripped on his own feet falling butt first on the ground and the little kid that he tried to avoid shouted "sorry" over his shoulder as he jumped over the park's green gate.

Merlin groaned in pain, only now realising how much he actually felt it. Why wasn't the ground more soft? That was a question little Merlin had been asking since the day he was born and had slipped out of the nurse's hands.

"What are you doing on the ground?" Arthur asked between laughs.

What do you think? I'm obviously checking for woodworm on your door. He pressed his ear to the door and started knocking on it "Nope it's clean" he concluded.

Arthur laughed.

"Shut up, Merlin. I'm starting to realize you're really clumsy, and that, my friend, makes me very happy" Arthur smirked mischievously.

"I'm staring to realize you're a prat" Merlin responded annoyed as he grabbed Arthur's hand accepting his help. "Thanks" he mumbled.

Both boys went in the store both cringing at the Gwaine who was "playing" the drums.

"Gwaine! Gwaaine!" Arthur tried to shout over the noise but to no avail, but then he got an idea, there was something Gwaine never ignored no matter how much noise there was and how apparently impossible it would be for him to hear it. "Hot guys say whaat?" He shouted laughing.

Suddenly Gwaine stopped slamming on the drums and shouted back

"Whaat!" Merlin burst out laughing as soon as he said it.

"Woah, that's an ego" He laughed.

"I know I still don't understand how he does it" Arthur agreed chuckling

"Hey shut up if you were as hot as this" he motioned to his body with the drum sticks. "You would understand"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Arthur dismissed him.

The few kids that were in the shop started running out as soon as they heard the bell in the distance, they probably had to go to school.

"So, can we go have lunch please?" Gwaine asked rubbing his belly, which protested.

"Yeah, sure" Arthur nodded "go wait for me outside I'll be there in a few seconds.

As Gwaine and Merlin slowly made their way outside, Arthur turned off the lights and locked the cash register.

He joined the others outside and they made their way through the park again. This time though the small playground was empty, the mums probably had to go cook and feed their children.

"So" Gwaine smirked "anyone special?" He asked as Merlin blushed.

"Gwaine!" Arthur shouted, silently begging Gwaine to shut up

"It's okay" Merlin laughed "and no, I've actually never had a crush on anyone" he answered smiling.

"Oh, that's a shame" Gwaine's shoulders slumped, as soon as it did he straightened his back again and a huge smirk appeared on his face, actually scaring the other two boys "Oh but you know here Arthur" he slapped the boy's back and let his hand rest there.

"No" Arthur whispered and his eyes widened.

"He has had quite a few crushes, you see?" Gwaine continued.

"Gwaine, please, shut up" Arthur hissed through his teeth.

"Like for example..." He was interrupted by Arthur's fist colliding with his stomach making the brown haired boy curled up in pain, but he was still laughing.

Merlin laughed at the two boys' friendship, as they arrived at the small restaurant on the other side of the park. There was a group of people their age, sitting on one of the tables outside.

"Hey, guys" Gwaine shouted, running to the table and sitting on the only empty chair. Merlin and Arthur slowly following behind him.

"Hey" a dark girl said looking around at Arthur and Merlin. "New friend?" She winked at Arthur.

"I'm Merlin" The boy smiled not realising what she meant

"I'm Gwen, this is Lancelot, Percival, Morgana, Leon and my brother Elyan" each person waved and greeted Merlin, as Gwen said their name

"Nice to meet you, guys" Merlin smiled at everyone.

"You know, you seemed way more shy when we met this morning" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you are talking about" Merlin dismissed him pulling a chair to the table. Arthur smirked, pulling a chair for himself and joining everyone else.


	4. Killy's

"The usual?" A man asked. He had dark hair and beard with a few greys. He was wearing a white button down shirt with the name of the restaurant, Killy's, in gold and a dark red apron, in his hands he had a small notebook and a pen.

"Yeah" Everyone, except Merlin, agreed nodding.

"What about you, boy?" He turned to the skinny boy "I haven't seen you before, have I?"

"Probably not. I just moved from Ealdor" He explained "It's a small town a bit sou…" "I know where it is." The man interrupted his eyes watering a bit, but as soon as they did the man quickly sniffed and recomposed himself "Anyway, what do you want?"  
>"The same as them I guess" Merlin shrugged gesturing to the guys.<p>

"Ohoo, I don't know if you can take it" Gwaine interrupted laughing.

"Yeah, Merlin you look too small for it" Elyan added him too laughing.

"Hey, shut up I'm probably taller than you!" Merlin protested trying to save his pride.

"Maybe, but you don't have these guns" Gwaine smirked squeezing Percival's arms.

"Hey, boys, shut up. Leave him alone" Gwen shouted over everyone's laughs. Merlin nodded finally feeling like someone was on his side. "Besides if he needs he can take the rest home for dinner" She giggled making Merlin groan, giving up he just crossed his arms over his chest and pouted staring at the red tabletop.

The man from the restaurant chuckled too going inside to take their orders.

"Seriously though, shut up" Morgana interrupted. She wanted to try and make the new guy feel welcome "So Merlin what brings you to Camelot?" She asked smiling at him. The other guys were all now talking about fencing or something. Only Arthur and Gwen were listening to them.

"I've explained it to Arthur, I was living in Ealdor as I said before but things got complicated so I had to move. My mum knew Gaius and she used to live here so she though Camelot was the best place for me to go." Merlin explained, as Morgana and Gwen nodded in understanding.

"So, you're staying with Gaius?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, I just met him this morning he looked like a nice guy, a bit on the crazy side though." Merlin smiled, a question in his eyes as if asking for someone to reassure him Gaius wasn't crazy.

"Nah" you could see Merlin sighing in relief as Arthur said it "That was just because Gwaine, the idiot, drank too much yesterday so he didn't let him sleep. He'll probably feel better later" He chuckled at the relief on Merlin's face.

"So, Merlin, what do you like to do?" Gwen asked as he sipped on the glass of water the man had brought.  
>The man's eyes looked at him as if he wanted to ask something but probably decided against it as he went back inside.<p>

"I don't know, I like reading a lot, and when I was younger my best friend and I used to prank people a lot. It was him that planned it all but I was always the one that had to do everything else" he smiled sadly remembering Will, he was hoping as soon as he got used to living here, he could invite him to visit, so he could show him Camelot.

"That sounds awesome" Arthur chuckled, imagining little Merlin with huge ears stumbling around as he tried to make his best friend's plans work.

"Do you miss him?" Gwen asked looking at him sadly.

"Yeah, his name is Will, he didn't want me to move but we knew it was for the best, besides he can visit whenever he wants" Merlin tried to reassure himself.

He knew it would be hard, not seeing Will everyday, but it was better than being used and hurt, like he used to be.

"Here you go" the man announced as he distributed their food.

Merlin's eyes widened, and suddenly he was not hungry anymore. In front of him was the biggest piece of meat he had ever seen with an incredibly ridiculous amount of rice and fries.

"Not so big now, are we?" Lancelot laughed as Merlin tried to hide how he really felt about his order.

"This is nothing" He shot back, sounding way too confident.

He gulped and made his best to finish it.

* * *

><p>"You actually did it" Gwaine laughed historically has he looked at their new friend's empty plate.<p>

Merlin nodded looking like he was about to pass out.

"Let's make it your usual?" Percival provoked, already knowing what Merlin's reaction would be.

"No it's okay, I'll be fine with half from now on" He laughed nervously, fear in his eyes.

"I have to go back to the store, guys" Arthur interrupted looking at his watch "I'm already 15 minutes late, guitars don't sell themselves you know?" He answered Gwaine who was asking why he couldn't stay a little longer.

"Can I go with you?" Merlin asked scared they would make him eat desert.

"Yeah, of course" He said going inside to pay for his and Merlin's meals while Merlin said goodbye to everyone, kissing the girls' cheeks and shaking the guys' hands who laughed at his face when they squeezed his hand a little too hard.

Merlin and Arthur made their way back to the store in silence, thankfully not awkward, after Merlin thanked him for paying.

As they got to the store Merlin fell on the old armchair feeling heavy, he shouldn't have eaten the whole thing but his honor was at stake.

"Merlin, can you help me with these?" Arthur called from the room at the other end of the store.

As he went to check on his friend he saw him curled up on the armchair his hands under his head. If it had been Gwaine he would just have dumped a glass of cold water on him, but he didn't know how the sleeping boy would react, so he just covered him with a small warm blanket he had under the counter. It was warmer than it had been in the morning but he still thought Merlin would be thankful.

Arthur looked at Merlin as he slept, he looked so adorable and peaceful, plump lips slightly parted, and dark eyelashes resting on his cheeks. He feared what this boy was starting to make him feel.


	5. An unexpected family reunion

Merlin woke up half an hour later, curled up under the blue blanket.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty " Arthur laughed at the other boy's confused face.

"Why do I have a blanket?" Merlin mumbled, turning around to look at Arthur.

"Because it's cold" Arthur chuckled confused.

"Oh, where did it come from?" Merlin asked trying to completely cover his body.

"Magic. Where do you think?" He laughed.

"What do you mean magic?" Merlin asked wide eyed.

"I mean the magical place under my cash register. Merlin, you do know magic doesn't exist, right?" Arthur chuckled looking at Merlin like he was crazy, not noticing his friend's sad sigh.

" Haha. Very funny, I know it doesn't" Merlin covered, hiding the sadness he felt "Why do you have a blanket under there?"

"It's for the winter, it usually gets really cold around here." He explained, groaning as he crouched to pick up a bunch of guitar picks he had just knocked over the counter with his elbow.

"No, it's not. It's for when his dates kick him out of the house because of his tiny..." Gwaine was interrupted by the empty guitar pick bowl that went flying across the shop.

"Shut up, Gwaine!" Arthur yelled to the boy who had just made the door shout "costumeeer".

Merlin was giggling in the corner of the store, still hiding under the blanket.

"You shut up too!" Arthur spun around, pointing an accusatory finger at Merlin.

"We just met this morning and you're already being rude?" The boy shook his head in mock disappointment.

" You call that being rude? You should have seen him on the first day we met, he treated me like he was a prince and I a mere peasant" Gwaine added, making Merlin open his mouth dramatically.

"Arthur, I was right, you really are a prat." Merlin pretended to hold back tears.

"Shut up, both of you." Arthur complained, pouting almost unnoticeably.

"Oh no, Merlin we made the prince sad" Gwaine shouted dramatically running to hug Arthur around the stomach "I'm sorry your highness. I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"Let go of me, you idiot" Arthur struggled trying to push him away.

"I'd go hug him too but I don't want to freeze because of his cold heart." Merlin laughed, but was attacked by Arthur, who still had Gwaine attached to him, jumping on top of him and pressing his chest to his face.

"Freeze! Freeze!" Arthur shouted as Gwaine petted him and Merlin screamed.

The three boys were still on top of the armchair fighting, when the door shouted "costumeeer" but they were being to loud.

After a few minutes though, someone cleared their throat loudly, making the three boys look up startled.

"What the hell are you doing?" The man from the restaurant asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Fighting" Gwaine explained, his hand still resting on the other boy's stomach.

"And screaming?" The man added.

"That was Merlin, he sounds like a scared girl."

"Well, ookay then" the man gave up, turning to look at Merlin. "Can I borrow him for a second?" He asked, looking nervous all of a sudden.

"Yeah, sure. I'm coming, just wait a second" Merlin nodded curious as he pushed the other boys off of him and following the older man.

"Hum...I don't know where to start" The man said looking anywhere but Merlin nervously and scratching his beard.

"Maybe you could start by telling me your name?" Merlin smiled reassuringly. He was so confused, why did thi sman want to talk to him if they didn't even know each other.

"Oh yeah right" He chuckled nervously "I'm Balinor, i'm sorry but I overheard you talking at the restaurant and you said you were from Ealdor?"

"Yeah, I lived with my mum, why?" Merlin confirmed.

"I've lived there a few years ago, 23 to be exact." Balinor sighed, smiling at the memory. "I fell in love there you know?" Merlin smiled looking at the man's dreamy expression. "Hunith, was her name" Merlin gasped, choking on his own spit "you know her?" The man asked hopeful.

" She...she's my mother" Merlin stuttered making the man's eyes widen.

"Oh, she married then" The man sighed sadly "I'm happy for her...I mean I've always dreamt of going..."

"I don't know my father" Merlin interrupted him "she never married." He explained.

"Oh...may I...may I ask how old you are?" The man sighed nervously, scared of the answer. Now that he really looked at the boy he did look a bit like Hunith, her blue eyes and kind smile, but he also noticed his large ears, except his were hidden by his long hair, which was the darkest black like Merlin's.

"22" he said as he struggled to breath, tears starting to gather in his eyes.

"I don't know what it is to have a son." Balinor whispered weakly, he felt horrible knowing he had a son. He hadn't held him in his arms as he cried during the night, nor taught him how to ride a bike when he was 4 and helped him with his homework when he started school. All the things he always dreamt of all these years while working at the restaurant. Dreams of going back and falling for Hunith everyday once more, dreams of starting a family. And now he started to realize he could. Not in the way he dreamt, but here he was, his and Hunith's child, even if he wasn't a child anymore.

"Or I a father" Merlin finally said a tear going down his face as he couldn't hold any longer. He started crying hugging Balinor, his father. The person he had been asking about as soon as he was old enough to talk and go outside, wondering why everyone had a mother and a father and all he got was a mother, he loved his mom but had always dreamt of this moment. His mom had always told him his dad had to run away because bad people wanted to hurt him, he never really understood who the bad people were, but he knew why they wanted him, his magic.

"Am I interrupting something?" Arthur coughed awkwardly, not having a clue about what was happening.

"No, I was just about to leave" Balinor smiled looking at his son, he needed a moment this was too much at once. He had come here to know how Hunith was and left with a son. "I live above Killy's, go there around dinner time. Something tells me we have a lot to talk about." The man chuckled wiping his nose with his sleeve.

"Okay, I'll be there around 6" Merlin laughed, happy tears rolling down his face. "I'll bring my phone so we can call mom" he couldn't believe what was happening.

After all these years of feeling lonely, like he was the only kid who didn't have a father, he had finally found him, and he couldn't be happier.


	6. Hunith

Arthur held the door open for Merlin, who was crying to his sleeve, a smile on his face.

"What happened?" Gwaine asked looking worried, getting up from the armchair, so Merlin could sit.

"Nothing bad, I promise" He smiled, looking up at the two boys.

"Okay" Arthur said, worry still in his eyes.

Merlin walked through the park, his hands burried in his pockets, he was trying to stop them from shaking with the expectation and nervousness. His phone started ringing in his pants' back pocket, but he ignored it knowing it was his mother asking if he had arrived well and if he had liked his first day in a different town, he couldn't wait t otell her about his dad, but he was planning to call her when he got to Killy's.

He tripped twice in a row, almost smashing his face against a tree as he struggled to regain his balance. In his defense it was getting dark and there were thousands of tiny rocks scattered around the path. That and he was so nervous he wasn't paying much attention to his path but was thinking about what he was going to share with his father.

He finally reached the restaurant, tripping one last time on the welcome mat, before pulling the door open letting it close once he was inside.

Balinor looked up when he heard someone come in, from where he was setting a table, with a small smile and a few tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Hi" Merlin smiled brightly at the man, who quickly moved to hug his son again.

"Hey there, boy" He said in a weak voice, sounding like he was about to cry "Come on let's sit" the man said, guiding his son with an arm around his shoulders to one of the tables in the back, so they would have more privacy.

The two sat down in front of each other, Balinor explaining that he had left one of the new waiters in charge so wouldn't have to work that night.

"Can I ask you something?" Balinor asked looking nervous, a few seconds after one waitress took their order. "And please, if you don't tell anyone about it, this is something Uther can never find out." He said leaning foward so no one would listen.

"Yeah, of course" Merlin confirmed nodding his head.

"Do you have...do you have magic?" He finally got out looking around to check no one had heard, before looking back at Merlin expectantly.

Merlin didn't answer, he simply smiled whispering something his eyes turning gold. He opened his hand to show the man a picture of Merlin and his mother, the boy looked serious but Hunith had a soft smile in the background.

"Never do that again" the man warned "but thank you" he picked up the picture, softly caressing Hunith's face with his thumb "being able to do that here, in Camelot, isn't

A gift, son. Only older people know it exists, and if they see you using it they'll kill you. The younger ones think magic only belongs to stories, honestly I don't know how they would react if they found out it's real." He explained still looking at the photo "Uther had a bad experience with magic and instead of blaming the sorcerer, he blamed everyone involved in magic. Anyone he suspects to be magical is killed unless they manage to escape" he looked up at Merlin smiling with sad eyes.

"Why are you here then?" Merlin asked confused, it was probably safer in Ealdor, away from Uther.

"Uther saw me using magic in Ealdor, innocent playing with it. But Uther didn't see it like innocent. He tried to kill me but luckily I managed to get away without him seeing my face. Unfortunately it meant I could never go back to Ealdor because he could find me"

"But Camelot?" Merlin asked.

"It's the place he would never think I'd go" Balinor explained "I tried going to other places but they always found me so I decided to simply stop using magic and move here, and it has worked so far" he concluded, once again smiling with his lips but not with his eyes.

Merlin stared at him in silence not knowing what to say. He was sorry that his father had had such rough years, only to end up not being able to be himself.

"Can we call your mom now?" Balinor changed the subject, looking both nervous and excited.

"Okay, do you want me to talk first or do you want to answer?" Merlin asked eeaching down to his pants' back pocket and grabbing his phone. He looked for his mother's contact on the list and squealed a bit when he found it.

"You talk first" the man said quickly shaking from how nervous he was.

"Ready?" Merlin asked smiling at Balinor.

"Just do it" his dad sighed as if inhaling all the courage in the air.

Merlin tapped the little green phone on the screen and put it on speaker, only loud enough for both of them to hear. It beeped twice before she picked.

"Hello, sweetie. How's Camelot?" Hunith said softly, you could hear the smile on her voice at finally being able to talk to her son.

"Hey, mom. It's awesome, I've met some really nice and interesting people" He smiled at Balinor who was covering his mouth with his hands trying to be silent as he cried. He missed Hunith so much, now that he was finally listening to her he realized how much, the guilt of not having helped her raise their son and the sorry for having left without much warning only a quick kiss and a "I'm sorry but I have to go, I don't know when I'll be back or if I ever will be" and then leaving her 23 years without any kind of sign he was alive.

"Sounds nice" she said, happy her son was making friends besides Will. "Have you met Gaius? How's that old man?" She asked giggling at the memory of the man. Making Balinor laugh between loud sobs. Gaius had raised her as his daughter since she was 1 and able to stand.

"Yeah I went there before lunch to leave my things and rest a bit he looked nice, kind of crazy but Arthur told me he just didn't get enough sleep" Merlin explained looking at Balinor as if asking if he was ready to which Balinor nodded nervously.

"Yeah he was like that sometimes. Once he tried to..." she laughed.

"Mum" he interrupted her

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" She asked concerned.

"No, don't worry. I just found someone who wants to talk to you" Merlin said nervously not sure how his mother would react.

"What do you mean? Is Gaius there with you?" She asked excitedly.

"No, not Gaius" Merlin shook his head even though his mum couldn't see him "Bye, mum, something tells me you won't want talk to me after knowing who it is" He chuckled quietly.

"Is it someone famous or something? Is it Clooney? Merlin, answer me." She said using her most autoritary voice.

"Hi, Hunith" Balinor said sounding way more confident than he actually was.

"Balinor?" She whispered sounding hopeful, yet scared that her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Yes" the man murmured before breaking down. All he could do was cry and apologise for all the years he had disappeared and for not having helped with Merlin, even if it wasn't his fault he still felt guilty.

Merlin smiled as he saw that his parents had moved on from crying and whispering sorry's to catching up. He laughed along with Balinor. The man cried happy tears as Hunith told him about some of the most funny demonstrations of Merlin's clumsiness. Merlin felt like he couldn't be happier, but still dreamt of the day they would all actually be together.


	7. Feelings

Sorry for taking so long to post this. It was my last week of school and everything was absolutely chaotic. I had sets to paint for the school play, oral presentations to prepare, mini tests to study for, basically I had to much to do at once. And when I finally got time to write i bought sims 4 and constantly got distracted with it plus my creativity died but now it's hopefully back to life so maybe now I'll update a little more. No promises though cuz my brain has been a mess these past days.

Anyway sorry it's so short it's mostly just a filler

(sorry about what happened before i write all my stories on wattpad and then copy them here and for some reason i didn't realize that happened :P)

"Come on, Merlin! You're going to be late!" Hunith shouted from their their house's small kitchen.

7 year old Merlin slid down the handrail, so he would be faster but without tripping as he would if he ran down the stairs.

"Here's your lunch" She handed him his Harry Potter lunch box and pushed a nutella sandwich into his hand.

"But, mum, I'm not hungry" He groaned trying and failing to hand her back the sandwich.

"You have to eat, kid" sighed Balinor as he opened a cabinet to get a mug for his coffee.

"I know, dad" Merlin groaned, taking a tiny bite from the bread and sighing, his shoulders falling a little.

"Now go, and I don't want to find that sandwich in your lunchbox later!" Balinor shouted as his son opened the door to leave the house.

"Bye, mum, bye, dad" He ran back in the house to kiss each one on the cheek before running outside and tripping on the stairs in front of the house, falling face first as usual.

Merlin woke up with a jump, he shook his head to wake up as he sat up on the bed. As he remembered the day before he smiled, thinking of all the memories his dad and him would share in the future.

There was a knock on the door before Gaius peeked inside.

"Hey, boy, thought you were still sleeping." Gaius explained with a tray on his hands "Are you hungry? It's already midday" The man said as he set the tray on the boy's lap. "Oh, and Arthur came here earlier, got sad when I told him you were still in bed so you should go visit him, him and your dad" Gaius winked chuckling when Merlin's smile grew even more. "Come on, eat" The man said motioning to the food with his eyes and leaving the small room with a soft smile on his face.

Merlin rubbed his hands before grabbing the cheese and ham sandwich and taking a huge bite sighing happily.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted as the boy walked in the small music store.

"Arthur!" Merlin mimicked laughing at his new friend's excitment to see him.

The thing with Arthur is that even though they had just met, he felt strangely connected to the boy. He couldn't explain it, all he was sure of was that him and Arthur were definitely going to be close friends.

"So, what happened with Bal yesterday?" Arthur asked a glint of curiosity in his eyes as he looked up from the piano he was leaning over, probably dusting it Merlin guessed.

"It was kind of weird, and totally unexpected. And just...so...wonderful" Merlin sighed a huge grin on his face.

"Okay?" Arthur questioned, straightening up, so he could face the other boy, sensing it was something important.

"He's my dad" Merlin said almost laughing with small tears in the corners of his eyes.

Arthur's eyes widened comically, as the boy choked on air.

"What?!" He asked incredulous.

"Believe it or not, he's my dad" Merlin repeated laughing as he looked at Arthur who had his hands in his head in exaggerated surprise.

"I did think it was weird that your last name was his name but I never thought it was more than a coincidence!" Arthur smiled now "That's so awesome!" He exclaimed excitedly."

"I know" Merlin giggled squealing as Arthur picked him up in a hug "What are you doing?!" He laughed punching Arthur's back lightly.

"I'm just so happy for you, I barely know you but still." Arthur smiled finally letting go of the other boy.

He looked at his watch realising it was almost time for the kids to come running to his store before going to class.

" Hey, do you want to stay here until lunchtime? Or would you rather go to Killy's now?" Arthur suggested going back to dusting the grand piano.

"I think I'll stay here with you, if you don't mind" they smiled secretly, both silently happy to be with each other.

"Of course, I don't"

"My dad is probably working right now and I don't want to bother him"

"Then help me" Arthur smirked moving to push Merlin towards the cash register "There'll be way too many children coming in a few and it's way to hard to control them without help. Gwaine got drunk yesterday, so he's probably still in bed." Merlin giggled.

Arthur looked at the other boy and smiled fondly. He adored the other boy, he barely knew him yet he still felt like he'd known him forever and he couldn't help but to be happy for him and Balinor and blushing as the boy giggled at something he said. He couldn't help but feel he was starting to fall for the boy, who was sweetly talking to the first girl who came in, asking for a pink piano.


	8. Do you want to be a doctor?

"Bal! My man, look who I brought with me!" Arthur shouted as he was close enough to Killy's.

The older man was cleaning one of the red tables outside, some brown liquid falling to the floor as the man swiped at it with a rug.

He looked up looking distracted but a huge smile quickly appeared as he spotted the two boys.

"Hey, guys" He greeted grinning pulling his son into an one armed hug while still holding the rug to the table with his other hand "You hungry?" The man asked looking at his clock, checking if they were there for Arthur's lunch break.

"Yeah, I don't think this one, here, ate breakfast. He came to my store like an hour ago and I know he had woken up just half an hour before." Arthur explained patting Merlin's back before softly pushing him to the table next to the one Balinor was cleaning.

"No wonder you're so skinny." Balinor grumbled, squeezing Merlin's arm "You have to eat, boy" he said, making Merlin smile as he remembered his dream the night before.

"I know, sorry, I'm just never really that hungry when I wake up" Merlin tried to explain himself but the two other men weren't having it.

"Bring us my usual!"Arthur smiled mischievously as Merlin's eyes widened.

"One for both of us, right?!" Merlin asked, actually looking scared.

Balinor laughed at the boys patting Merlin on the shoulder reassuringly.

"You can do it, son. And believe me, if you can't he'll help you" the man laughed gesturing to Arthur with his rug. Arthur smiled proudly patting his belly.

"Speaking of that, I have less than two hours to eat and a huge stomach to fill. I will have a coke please, I feel like being unhealthy today" Arthur requested looking at Balinor as if he hadn't eaten in days. Balinor snorted.

"Sure, 'today'" he laughed. "I'll bring one for each of you." The man chuckled before finishing to clean the table and going inside.

"So, what are your plans for today, Merlin?" The blond asked.

"I don't know. My dad has the restaurant so he'll probably be busy and you have the store, so I'll probably end up asking Gaius for some classes." Merlin explained, looking around at the trees, and the flowers that were slowly appearing now that winter was almost over.

"Classes? You want to be a doctor?" Arthur wondered looking intensely at Merlin's cheekbones. He probably could do like that lady from the video Gwaine showed him a few weeks ago. She smashed beer cans with her boobs, but Merlin would use his incredibly sharp cheekbones, since he obviously didn't have breasts. But now that Arthur thought better about it, Merlin would probably just end up with a headache.

"Hum...kind of. I just want to learn the basics so I can control it better." Merlin said, not noticing his slip up.

"What do you mean control it better?" Arthur squinted his eyes, looking confused.

"Like you know...the urge to...help people?" He said it like a question and regretted it immediatly, but Balinor came to the rescue and brought their drinks. "Thanks" Merlin mumbled, before taking a sip. He was trying to pretend he wasn't dying a bit inside, by looking at the ice cubes on his coke and making them clink against the glass "Anyway what do you want to do? Do you see yourself still working at the shop in a few years?"

"I don't know, maybe" Arthur shrugged "I probably will still be there. I guess I wanted to show my dad that I could be who he wanted me to be, so I went to law school and all that but...it wasn't for me. So I decided to open the shop, make the young knights of Camelot shake their skeletons with some music." He chuckled a bit, making Merlin just want to hug him.

"Knights of Camelot?" Merlin giggled, looking adorably confused.

"It's our team! You've never seen them play?!" Arthur asked incredulous.

"You do know I got here yesterday right?" Merlin asked starting to get uncomfortable. He had always hated sports, he wasn't exactly the fittest of guys.

"Everyone has to see them at least once. I'm going to take you to the next game this weekend" He said looking very determined.

"Sorry, Arthur. But I'm not really a sports guy" Merlin tried but Arthur started shaking his head.

"No, no, no, You're coming. It's not about the sport, it's about the experience! The friends and the food and the mascot! Percival and Lancelot are in the team and Gwaine is the red dragon! You can't miss it!" Arthur was getting excited so Merlin sighed defeatedly.

"Fine" Arthur shouted happily. As if Merlin had any other choice.

"You'll love it you'll see" Arthur promised, but Merlin doubted it. football just wasn't his thing. He didn't understand how a bunch of guys running around kicking a ball could be entertaining but oh, well if he got too bored he could just admire Arthur's face. The guy was pretty handsome.

"I doubt it" Merlin groaned as their food finally arrived, accompanied by a fond smile from Balinor.

Sorry, it's so short again. I didn't want to write more because I want Gaius classes to be in a chapter alone and I didn't think there was anything else relevant in this conversation they were having so yeah. And I'll warn you now, I'm in the second to last year of school which means exams that will mess with my future, be it for university or for jobs. This to say, you'll be very lucky if I update before the 25th of June. I'll try, but I'll be really busy studying (and my girlfriend and I are finally back together so there's that too :P). I'm sorry again, but I promise I won't give up on this story as it is one of the few I wrote, that I actually like.


	9. Gaius, The Teacher

...Sorry I took so long *hides*

Merlin knocked on the door, once again hearing a crash before it opened.

"Hum...what happened?" Merlin asked trying to look over the other man's shoulder.

"Oh, nothing I was trying to make a...ah forget it. Just come in, boy. Your mum told me why she wanted you to come here." Gaius started, gently pushing him to the center of the room and motioning for him to sit on the hard brown couch in front of the fireplace. "Magic is dangerous, when one doesn't know how to use it or decides to use it for the wrong reasons" Gaius explained, he was cleaning up his table, before sitting on the armchair that matched the couch "I'm here to teach you, all the wonders of magic, but you can never forget to be careful, Camelot is not a fan of magic, as you have probably noticed. Your dad is here so he's less tempted to use it. It's risky, but it's either that or getting caught."

Merlin nodded absorving all the information Gaius was giving him. Merlin had been wrong about Gaius, well, at least it started to seem. The way he was speaking now, didn't make it seem like he was crazy, maybe it had been just stress.

"Your mum told me you are a fast learner, but that you had this wonderful ability to get into trouble very easily. All I ask, is for you not to get into magic related trouble, you don't want Uther finding out about you." Gaius got up, with a little difficulty and a complaint about his back. He started searching for a BOOK in one of the bookshelves around the walls. "Here, read the first chapter until sunday, I'm guessing you're going to the game?" Gaius asked handing Merlin the heavy book.

"Apparently" Merlin mumbled, he was starting to regret having accepted Arthur's invitation.

Gaius laughed at the boy's "enthusiastic" response. "That's why I'm not giving you a lesson this saturday but we will next week, okay?"

"okay, thanks"Merlin agreed. He absently opened the book, squinting at the tiny letters in it and sighing sadly,this didn't look like a FUN book at all.

"Not a football fan, I see?" Gaius asked, changing te was pretty sure he already knew the answer though.

"Not really, I'm just going because Arthur made me." Merlin explained, before groaning silently.

"Don't worry you'll have fun" Gaius assured patting his shoulder as the boy stood up from the couch. "I'm not a very big fan either but I loved my first game, it was actually your mum who convinced me to go" Gaius laughed a bit at the memory.

"My mum likes football?" Merlin giggled, not believing one word of what Gaius was saying.

"She liked your dad" Gaius smiled "He was playing against The Knights. They started dating after that game, when your mum went to comfort him after his team lost." Merlin grinned he loved hearing stories from when his mother was younger, and now that they included his dad, he loved it even more. "Well, have fun on Saturday. I have to go I have an appointment with Mrs. Fisher in five minutes."

"Okay, I'll try" Merlin smiled a little, Arthur was going to be there after all, how bad could it be?

Arthur couldn't stop smiling, he had a date. Well, not really. Most of his friend's would be there, and he didn't even know if Merlin felt anything for him. Merlin was really misterious but at the same time he was really easy to read. It confused and amazed Arthur.

You could see Merlin had more to himself than what he showed, and Arthur wanted to find out what it was.

"Hey, Romeo, what are you up to?" Gwaine said kicking his foot lightly, before sitting beside him.

He was sitting next to his bike at his store's entry. Looking at the people passing by and eating a bag of candy, which Gwaine stole as soon as he saw it.

"Just thinking. What's your prediction for the game this weekend?" Arthur asked trying to cover up what he was actually thinking about, or better- who.

"We're going kick ass of course!" Gwaine laughed, as if it was a ridiculous question. It kind of was, The Knights barely lost any games since their team started. "You taking Juliet with you?" Gwaine smiled mischievously, eating a handful of gummy bears.

"What?" Arthur asked honestly confused.

"Well what's Romeo without his Juliet?" Gwaine laughed, patting his friend's knee.

"Alive? Did you even read that play?" Arthur asked laughing.

"You speak as if you did" Gwaine pushed him with his shoulder knowing Arthur was just as lazy as him, when they were in school.

"No, but I didn't fall asleep during the play!" Arthur teased pushing him back, making Gwaine lose his balance.

"Well, too bad for you, the seats were really comfortable, one of the best naps I've ever taken." Gwaine didn't bother getting up and just rolled so he was laying on his back looking at the sky. "Well but is he coming or not?"

"Who? Merlin?" Gwaine's unimpressed look answered it "Yeah, I convinced him" Arthur tried not to smile as he said that but his lips betrayed him.

"Ha! I knew it!" Gwaine laughed rubbing his stomach as he did when he was happy.

"Yeah, yeah, don't tell him though" Arthur warned looking at his friend with a serious expression.

"Don't worry , bro. My lips are sealed" Gwaine smiled again pretending his mouth had a zipper and "closing it" "Well, good luck, my dear friend" He laughed again making Arthur roll his eyes and get up.

"Shut up" He mumbled embarassed, before entering his tiny store.


	10. The Game

I...please don't kill me, here have the longest chapter so far as an apology :P

Btw I know my song writing skills suck...

Anyway hope you enjoy!

Merlin winced covering his ears, but still smiling. Arthur was in front of him, hand on Merlin's arm so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd that was growing each second that passed.

Arthur was wearing the same kind of t-shirt Merlin guessed the players would wear, all red with only a thin stripe on top of each sleeve and on the back it had written Captain Arthur, making Merlin wonder if he had ever been on the team, but decided against asking at that moment once he heard a large bearded man with green paint on his face shouting at a man wearing a red scarf.

They had just arrived at the stadium and all they could hear was screams and loud music, since the moment they got out of the car.

"Do we have reserved seats?" Merlin shouted looking worriedly at the growing crowd

"Well, not exactly but I asked Gwaine to try and save us two or to ask Gwen to do it." Merlin nodded so Arthur would know he'd heard him.

They pushed through the crowd Arthur's hand lowered from when a group of tall guys had almost pushed them apart. So now his hand was now linked to Merlin's.

"I see them!" Merlin heard Arthur shout over the noise. The boy squeezed his hand harder before darting off almost running pulling Merlin along.

"Hey, guys!" Arthur greeted, right before Merlin crashed against him and fell to the ground, thanks gravity.

"You okay?" Elyan asked, trying hard not to laugh. He had two stripes on each cheek, one red the other gold.

Merlin groaned, finally letting go of Arthur's hand to cover his face and hide his embarrassment. Arthur, on the contrary, started laughing loudly, hand on his belly. Merlin groaned again, trying to sink into the ground and disappear.

"You... are... so... clumsy" He said between laughs, extending his hand to help Merlin up.

"Me?!" Merlin shouted loudly, accepting the other boy's hand "You were the one that ran off! Do you know how gravitational force works? Do you need me to teach you?" His face was red with embarrassment, and they had just arrived.

"Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses" Arthur chuckled ruffling the taller boy's hair, finally calming down and catching his breath. "Where are we supposed to sit?" Arthur asked, only now realizing all the seats around the group were taken.

"Gwaine told me you two wanted to be alone" Gwen said confused. She had on a short red dress with a gold belt and red and gold striped socks that reached her knees.

"Alone? In a football stadium?" Arthur glared "Why do you still believe in what Gwaine says?" he sighed, groaning quietly.

"I didn't, but I thought you'd like it" Gwen said a mischivieous smile spreading across her face. Arthur sighed, it was true but he also wanted Merlin to spend some time with his friends. But he guessed he could do that some other day.

"Where are we supposed to go then?" He asked the girl, already reaching Merlin's arm to start pulling him along.

Gwen got up squinting to her left, so she could spot the red blur named Gwaine.

"There" she pointed "It's kind of hard to lose him once you spot him, not many people wear a dragon costume to a football game" she smiled looking at Arthur's hand on Merlin's arm.

"Thanks" Merlin said but he was already being pulled by Arthur.

"Hey, Gwaine!" Arthur shouted pushing the boy off their seats.

"Roar, roar, love birds!" The boy said waving his hands around pretending to be a dragon. The two boys blushed, looking anywhere but at each other.

"Shouldn't you be cheering the crowd?" Merlin asked trying to clear the awkward silence that settled, while Gwaine tried to close a part of his costume which opened when he hit the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I was saving two seats for you guys, I promise I won't do it again." The boy shook his head jumping the gate that separated the crowd from the field, muttering "poor and ungrateful" while he did it. Once he reached the cheerleaders Gwaine ran high fiving all of them before starting to shout loudly and jumping around trying to scare the other team's mascot.

"Well, he looks comfortable" Merlin giggled, making a soft smile and a chuckle appear on Arthur's mouth.

"Yeah, he loves it, we always thought he would be mad when the coach told him the first time he wouldn't be playing, but as soon as he mentioned we needed a mascot, Gwaine hasn't even mentioned playing again." Arthur explained looking at his childhood friend.

"Oh, by the way, I meant to ask before but I forgot, don't you play?" Merlin asked turning to the blond.

"Yeah, I did, I actually used to be the captain" Arthur smirked at Merlin's impressed nod

"Well, why aren't you in the field then?" Merlin questioned.

"I've been busy with the store, I plan on going back though but you know, it never seems the right time." Arthur explained a sad expression taking over his face "I really loved it but then college started and you know how those things are. When I got back I opened the store" He smiled now reassuring Merlin he was still happy, even if he hadn't played in a long time "I'm happy with my little music store though, we'll see. I'm sure I'll go back" He sighed putting an end to the subject.

"What the?! Is that still Gwaine?!" Merlin shouted getting up and leaning against the gate to look closer. Gwaine had ran to the opposite corner of the field and took a deep breath before starting to run again and doing a mixture of cartwheels, front and back flips, finishing with one of the cheerleaders throwing a can and another putting a torch in front of him so he pretended to spit fire when he reached it. The crowd erupted into cheers the ground shaking from all the jumping. Merlin put his fingers in his mouth before whistling loudly and waved at Gwaine when the dragon pointed at him playfully moving his head as he if he was winking, knowing Gwaine he probably was. Merlin laughed histerically looking back at Arthur a huge smile on his face.

Arthur couldn't help but smile back. Merlin looked like he was glowing from all the happiness and amazement he seemed to be feeling. His blue eyes seemed to glow gold everytime he turned to the light and Arthur just knew that he was going to fall in love with him with time.

"You were right, this is so much more than just a sport!" Merlin shouted when he finally returned before hugging Arthur close to his chest "Thanks for bringing me" Both boys smiled widely before focusing on the players and kids entering the field to sing the anthem and start the game.

The players and children from both teams lined up on the field and put their right hand to their heart. Most of the players resting their left hands on the shoulder of the child in front of them. The speakers cracked before the song started playing and everyone in the stadium stopped what they were doing and rested their hands in their chest mimicking the players, before singing in unison showing respect to each country's anthem. Merlin looked around, once again mesmerized by how united everyone seemed to be even if most people didn't know each other, they showed a mutual respect. Everyone seemed to be so proud of their country and team. When both anthems ended everyone clapped and Gwaine, the red dragon, gave the other team's mascot, the green lion, a hug and a high five before whispering something in the lion's ear and patting his back.

Arthur looked at Merlin and couldn't help but throw a hand around his shoulders and pulling him close making the boy smile even harder than he was before.

"So how is it so far?" Arthur turned to Merlin, pretty sure he already knew the answer. "Is it that bad?" He chuckled, making Merlin giggle and shake his head.

"No, I love it so much so far" He smiled, his eyes squinting so much they looked closed. They had reached the game's half time and everyone seemed to be shuffling around making Merlin and Arthur's shoulder bump together a ridiculous amount of times.

"Yo, Merlin!" They heard Gwaine shout "Come here I think you want to see this from this side of the gate." Merlin looked confused at Arthur but then the blond's face smiled with realization and gently pushed the dark haired one foward.

"Go, you'll love it, I promise" He smiled encouragingly.

Merlin let Gwaine help him jump the gate and pull him to the center of the stadium.

"Now watch" Gwaine ran and put himself in front of Camelot's side of the stadium before giving the green lion two thumbs up, which he did back.

"One! Two! Go!" Everyone started rhythmically "marching" in their places including Arthur who was smiling at him. And suddenly everyone in red started singing and shouting.

We are the knights of Camelot!

We are here to fight!

Our dragon's fire,

Will make us shine bright!

Merlin turned around when the other team started making noise playfully booing, before starting a chant of their own.

Manes is our mascot

A fierce lion he is

He'll fight until the end

When we will surely win

The knights pretended to laugh making Merlin giggle at how silly the whole thing looked, but so much fun

At the round table we gathered

Making tactics for our games

To make sure your lion, manes

Doesn't stand a chance against us!

Merlin shook his head along with the lions telling the knights, that one hadn't been as good.

Hear us Roaaar!

As soon as the mascot shouted that. The green crowd started roaring and Merlin laughed along with the knights as they watched the opposing teams fans and players, as they came back from the locker room, pretending to be lions.

Gwaine came back, asking if Merlin had liked his first game.

Merlin nodded giggling, before letting Gwaine pushing him back out of the field.

Arthur was now holding a little cone paper with greasy french friends and two hotdogs on sticks, making Merlin look disgusted for a second, before he remembered that today he'd make an exception.

Maybe football wasn't as bad as it seemed, Merlin admitted to Arthur not showing a hint of defeat on his bright smile.


End file.
